Supergirl producer Andrew Kreisberg on the show's shocking new character reveal

Share This Post

If you’re not watching CBS’s Supergirl, you missed the debut of one of DC’s most iconic heroes in glorious live action. Turns out Martian Manhunter has been under our noses the whole time.

Fans have spent the past several episodes wondering what deep, dark secret DEO Director Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) was hiding. Well, the secret was deep — but not nearly as dark as we were all thinking. Hank dropped some major intel that the original Agent Henshaw died years ago, and J’onn J’onzz, aka Martian Manhunter, replaced him and infiltrated the DEO to try and do some good with the agency.

Needless to say, the moment was a shock. Producer Andrew Kreisberg told TV Line and The Hollywood Reporter the big reveal came about as they tried to figure out exactly what secret Henshaw was hiding, and they chased that idea down the rabbit hole and decided to weave Martian Manhunter into the narrative. It’s a risky gambit, but an exciting one for comic fans.

Here’s an excerpt from this comments:

“Within the body of the Supergirl series, there is a Martian Manhunter series rolling throughout. It fit in with how Supergirl has been evolving. She’s embraced her powers and stepped out into the light, and in a way, J’onn is closeted and afraid. He’s one of the most frightening-looking Justice Leaguers, but he has the purest heart…

[DC Comics CCO] Geoff Johns, [executive producer] Greg Berlanti and I were saying, ‘It's so funny we cast David because he's got those weird ears. Like alien ears.’ I don't remember which one of us said it, but it was like, 'If we were ever going to make a Martian Manhunter show, David would have been the perfect Martian Manhunter.' And Geoff said, ‘Well, why can't he be?’ We already had it set up that Hank was keeping this bad secret, and then we started thinking about well, what if it was a good secret? You think he's bad but then he turns out to be not only good, but the most good person in the DC universe."

Considering this mystery has been a driving force up to this point, it’ll be interesting to see where the producers take the narrative next. But what we really want to know is how long we’ll have to wait until we get the Martian Manhunter teamup with Supergirl.